Investigations
‘It’s time’: California leaders unveil biggest crackdown on drunk drivers in decades
A bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers has introduced 10 bills, an unprecedented package designed to stop deadly drivers.
criminal justice
Reader Reactions
Good behavior musn’t determine if a California prison inmate lives in a safe environment
An incarcerated person's constitutional right to a safe and healthy environment in a single occupancy cell cannot be withheld on the condition that she or he be good.
Commentary
California promised accountability for inmate deaths in jails. A year later, no results.
Lawmakers passed a law creating a state department to review inmate deaths, but it hasn’t completed a single death review in its first year.
Commentary
Tax dollars should fund children’s education, not attorneys’ fees in child sex abuse cases
California school districts could be on the hook for about $3 billion in liability for child sexual abuse lawsuits. Up to 40% may go to trial attorneys.
Commentary
Will California lawmakers break their promise to child sexual abuse survivors?
In 2019, the Legislature and Gov. Newsom closed a loophole that allowed schools to avoid liability for child sexual abuse. Now the law is under threat.
Commentary
California judges defend their independence and the rule of law
President Trump, Gov. Newsom and other politicians pressured judges. But judges say they can’t bow to political or popular will, only to the law.
Justice
Cops have to treat marijuana in your car differently after new California Supreme Court ruling
If you can't easily consume it, having marijuana in your car does not give California police the right to search the vehicle.
Commentary
It ‘took a village’ to heal her trauma and homelessness. Will California keep funding this help?
California’s Prop 36 has put at risk the funding stream for the state’s 24 Trauma Recovery Centers, which provide a variety of services to crime victims.
Justice
California cities just saw their lowest homicide rates in decades. It’s not clear why
Homicides in California surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, killings are down to historic lows in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and many other cities.
Commentary
ICE ignores hard lessons LAPD learned after Rodney King beating
Federal immigration agents are forgoing the basics that LA police espouse after their years of ignominy: de-escalation, accountability and protecting and serving.